Attack of the Theocrats!: How the Religious Right Harms Us All - and What We Can Do About It

At no time in history has the United States had such a high percentage of theocratic members of Congress - those who expressly endorse religious bias in law. Just as ominously, especially for those who share the values and views of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, at no other time have religious fundamentalists effectively had veto power over one of the country's two major political parties. As Sean Faircloth argues in this deeply sobering yet highly engaging book, this has led to the crumbling of the country's most cherished founding principle - the wall of separation between church and state.

Sacred Cows: A Lighthearted Look at Belief and Tradition Around the World

Well into the 21st century, our species continues to participate in beliefs and customs that seem more suited to the Bronze Age than the Information Age, some of which involve poisonous snakes, holy smoke, urine bubbles, crystals, tarot cards, aliens, costumed virgins, and, of course, an offering plate. Join Seth Andrews for a random romp across the planet and a humorous look at some of humanity's Sacred Cows.

On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt

The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical, and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Historian and philosopher Richard Carrier reexamines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct.

Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible

In his provocative new book, evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne lays out in clear, dispassionate detail why the toolkit of science, based on reason and empirical study, is reliable, while that of religion - including faith, dogma, and revelation - leads to incorrect, untestable, or conflicting conclusions.

The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science - and Reality

Best-selling author Chris Mooney uses cutting-edge research to explain the psychology behind why today’s Republicans reject reality - it’s just part of who they are. From climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing, as is the denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy, and much more. Why won’t Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why are they constantly fighting against the facts?

Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans

A new group of Americans is challenging the reign of the Religious Right. Today, nearly one in five Americans are nonbelievers - a rapidly growing group at a time when traditional Christian churches are dwindling in numbers - and they are flexing their muscles like never before. Yet we still see almost none of them openly serving in elected office, while Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and many others continue to loudly proclaim the myth of America as a Christian nation.

Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession

Let’s talk about secession. Not exactly the most suitable cocktail party conversation starter anywhere in the country, but take that notion deep into the heart of Dixie and you might find yourself running from the possum-hunting conservatives, trailer-park lifers, and prayer warriors Chuck Thompson encountered during the two years he spent traveling the American South asking the question: Would we be better off without ’em?

A Manual for Creating Atheists

For thousands of years, the faithful have honed proselytizing strategies and talked people into believing the truth of one holy book or another. Indeed, the faithful often view converting others as an obligation of their faith - and are trained from an early age to spread their unique brand of religion. The result is a world broken in large part by unquestioned faith. As an urgently needed counter to this tried-and-true tradition of religious evangelism, this audiobook offers the first-ever guide not for talking people into faith - but for talking them out of it.

Why There Is No God: Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God

Why There Is No God provides simple, easy-to-understand counterpoints to the most popular arguments made for the existence of God. Each chapter presents a concise explanation of the argument, followed by a response illustrating the problems and fallacies inherent in it. Whether you're an atheist, a believer, or undecided, this book offers a solid foundation for building your own inquiry about the concept of God.

Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All

Nailed sheds light on ten beloved Christian myths, and, with evidence gathered from historians across the theological spectrum, shows how they point to a Jesus Christ created solely through allegorical alchemy of hope and imagination; a messiah transformed from a purely literary, theological construct into the familiar figure of Jesus - in short, a purely mythic Christ.

The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture

For thousands of years, religion has woven its way through societies and people as if it were part and parcel to that society or person. In large measure it was left unexplained and unchallenged, it simply existed. Those who attempted to challenge and expose religion were often persecuted, excommunicated, shunned, or even executed. It could be fatal to explain that which the church, priest, or imam said was unexplainable. Before the germ, viral, and parasite theory of disease, physicians had no tools to understand disease and its propagation.

Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason

Assertions like these seem comical until you realize that many Christian parents aren't kidding when they teach them to their children as facts. Every day, impressionable young minds are conditioned to blindly accept wild biblical tales of floating zoos, talking shrubbery, 900-year-old humans, the undead, curses, levitation, demon/human hybrids and men who obtain super-human strength from the length of their hair. Allegiance to these teachings is expected, often demanded.

Generation Atheist

The human journey is an emotional quest to find truth and meaning. Countless books have presented this journey through the eyes of people who concluded their search with devotion to God, salvation by Jesus, or commitment to religion. But there's a changing zeitgeist in America and the world: a growing number of people are finding truth and meaning from the opposite perspective. Through 25 personal narratives, Generation Atheist tells their stories.

The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children

In 2009, the Good News Club came to the public elementary school where journalist Katherine Stewart sent her children. The Club, which is sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, bills itself as an after-school program of "Bible study." But Stewart soon discovered that the Club's real mission is to convert children to fundamentalist Christianity and encourage them to proselytize to their "unchurched" peers, all the while promoting the natural but false impression among the children that its activities are endorsed by the school.

An Atheist in the FOXhole: A Liberal's Eight-Year Odyssey into the Heart of the Right-Wing Media

The "Fox Mole" delivers a funny, opinionated memoir of his eight years at the unfair, unbalanced Fox News Channel. An Atheist in the FOXhole has everything that liberals and Fox haters could desire: details about how Fox’s right-wing ideology is promoted throughout the channel; why specific angles and personalities are the only ones broadcasted; the bizarre stories Fox anchors actually believed (and passed on to the public); and tales of behind-the-scenes mayhem and mistakes, all part of reporting Fox’s version of the news.

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why - and how - it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma.

Not the Impossible Faith

Written with occasional humor and an easy style, and thoroughly referenced, with many entertaining "gotcha!" moments, Not the Impossible Faith is a must-listen for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity. Richard Carrier, PhD, is an expert in the history of the ancient world and a critic of Christian attempts to distort history in defense of their faith.

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

Conventional wisdom holds that America has been a Christian nation since the Founding Fathers. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse argues that the idea of "Christian America" is nothing more than a myth - and a relatively recent one at that.

The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion, Book 1: The Mormons

In this first book of The Complete Heretic's Guide to World Religion series, historian and award-winning atheist author Dave Fitzgerald takes us behind the Salt Lake curtain for a glimpse at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and answers your questions: Where did this multi-billion dollar tax-exempt corporation come from? Did Joseph Smith really sleep with all those women? Are the Mormons going to take over the whole world, and if so, is there any way to stop them? But that's not all!

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas

Here is a fantastic listen that works brilliantly alongside the massively popular The Atheist's Guide to Christmas. This Guide was edited by Ariane Sherine, who has managed to compile a wonderful concoction of the world's most entertaining writers, scientists, comedians, and philosophers to read, perform, and narrate pieces that they had all written for the print book version.

Drunk with Blood: God's Killings in the Bible

You've probably heard of a few of God's killings. Noah's Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, David and Goliath, maybe. But there are over 150 others that are unknown to pretty much everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike.

Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith

In this groundbreaking volume, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, with Clare Aukofer, offers a succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief. Dr. Thomson, a highly respected practicing psychiatrist with credentials in forensic psychiatry and evolutionary psychology, methodically investigates the components and causes of religious belief in the same way any scientist would investigate the movement of astronomical bodies.

Is there really a God? Or does God exist only in our heads? Is the Bible truly God's Word? Or is it a jumble of fanciful myths? Atheist Universe details why God is unnecessary to explain the universe's diversity, organization, and beauty. Using simple, straightforward logic, this audiobook rebuts every argument that claims to "prove" God's existence.

The Happy Atheist

On his popular science blog, Pharyngula, PZ Myers has entertained millions of fans with his infectious love of evolutionary science and his equally infectious disdain for creationism, biblical literalism, intelligent design theory, and other products of godly illogic. This funny and fearless book collects and expands on some of his most popular writings, giving the religious fanaticism of our times the gleeful disrespect it deserves by skewering the apocalyptic fantasies, magical thinking, hypocrisies, and pseudoscientific theories advanced by religious fundamentalists of all stripes.

Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind

What is it like to be a preacher or rabbi who no longer believes in God? In this expanded and updated edition of their groundbreaking study, Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola comprehensively and sensitively expose an inconvenient truth that religious institutions face in the new transparency of the information age - the phenomenon of clergy who no longer believe what they publicly preach.

Publisher's Summary

At no time in history has the United States had such a high percentage of theocratic members of Congress - those who expressly endorse religious bias in law. Just as ominously, especially for those who share the values and views of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, at no other time have religious fundamentalists effectively had veto power over one of the country's two major political parties. As Sean Faircloth argues in this deeply sobering yet highly engaging book, this has led to the crumbling of the country's most cherished founding principle - the wall of separation between church and state.

While much of the public debate in the United States over church-state issues has focused on the construction of nativity scenes in town squares and the addition of "under God" to the Pledge, Faircloth, a former politician and current executive director of the Secular Coalition for America, moves beyond the symbolism to explore the many ways federal and state legal codes privilege religion in law. He demonstrates in vivid detail how religious bias in law harms all Americans-financially, militarily, physically, socially, and educationally - and directs special attention to the outlandish words, views, and policy proposals of the most theocratic politicians, a group he labels the Fundamentalist Fifty. Sounding a much-needed alarm for all who care about the future direction of the country, Faircloth concludes by offering an inspiring ten-point vision of an America returned to its secular roots and by providing a specific and sensible plan for realizing this vision. Both his vision and his plan remember and remind that the United States is, above all else, one nation under the Constitution.

Sean Faircloth is the director of policy and strategy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (US). He served for a decade in the Maine State Legislature, where he successfully spearheaded over thirty pieces of legislation. He was elected majority whip by his colleagues in his last term.

Richard Dawkins is a scientist and author of numerous best sellers, including The Magic of Reality, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The God Delusion

Although I enjoyed this book and is one of the better critical thinking books out there (actually interesting and not too long headed) I wanted more out of it. There just wasn't enough practical methods of dealing with looney religious wackos.

It boils down to marketing, exposure, and keeping an audiences attention. It's about image and not what you say. This is where skeptics miss the mark every time. It's sad really when geek culture is so relevant nowadays but at least this book is a spark of hope.

If you could sum up Attack of the Theocrats! in three words, what would they be?

On Religio-Industrial villainy.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

This is former Majority Whip Sean Faircloth casting a light on the evils of believers put in positions of power. It's an undeniably important message, and the lengthy discussion of childcaregivers is some gruesome, damning stuff. But given a heavier-handed editor, this could've been whittled down significantly and lost very little of its content.

How could the performance have been better?

Faircloth could've turned over the narration reins to virtually anyone else and we'd have produced a better product. Dawkins performs his own forward and it's as spot-on as his other reads, but Faircloth suffers from a host of unedited vocal snafus. Heavy breaths, awkward pauses and jarring stumbles mar the message of the text. And, for whatever reason, his insistence on vocalizing every "open quote-- end quote" annoyed the ever-lovin' piss out of me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely, but the performance made doing so nigh intolerable.

Any additional comments?

Ultimately, I just couldn't finish it. Where a better narrator could have pulled the book through some of its more meandering segments, Faircloth slogging through his own words started to take on an almost filibustering tone. I reluctantly returned this one, my first time doing so.

That daycare centers affiliated with a religion do not have the same regulations as far as child safety as the non-religious ones. What kind of a deal is that? Child safety concerns should be universal, either its a good idea to keep medicines locked away or it isn't, for example.

Concerned by faith-based initiatives, tax and regulatory exemptions for Christian "charities" (but which are conspicuously absent for the other religions out there, including Hinduism, which predates Judaism), Faircloth summons his biting sarcasm and thorough research skills for a well-reasoned clarion call to action. Although most of the theocrats he takes to task are Republicans, he does criticise Barack Obama for failing to remain faithful (no pun intended) to a pre-election promise.

Chock full of trustworthy sources, Faircloth reveals that unfair, unequal legal standards are applied; one for the religious, and one for everyone else. Faith harming (in some cases degenerating to faith murder) by religious parents who believe in sin, lies by the Reagan administration linking pornography to violence, blackmailing foreign aid recipients on the condition that they forbid reproductive education for women are just the tip of this perniciously polluted iceberg.

Perhaps most importantly, every issue identified by Faircloth here is paired with a reasonable solution that will provide real, tangible benefits for everyone, not just those who share a particular philosophy.

Chapter 1

Separation of church and state is being torn asunder. The First Amendment is being misconstrued and lied about.

Jefferson explicitly stated the Founding Fathers' desire for a WALL of separation (which likely led to Texas attempting to remove him from the state's textbooks). There are numerous cases of faith torture and murder (when parents refuse to get their children even the most rudimentary care) are conducted under the banner of special exemptions for religiously-based "conscientious" objections. One particularly ghastly incident involved a child developing a tumour the size of a baseball on their shoulder. "Special" rights are a common "justification" used to deny equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. This misses the essence of the issue - love and informed, consenting adults. Religious verses are used to justify and promote violence. Let's face it, "Do not kill" is vastly outnumbered by edicts demanding the opposite in the book of Exodus by several dozen orders of magnitude. Rick Warren equated Michael Schiavo to Nazis. Caring more for the brain dead than for those who can still suffer will do that to one's moral sensibilities. Churches are rarely audited by the IRS, which only allows them to flout their loopholes in ever more brazen fashions, including setting up their ministers and their families in lavish multi-million dollar McMansions. Religious groups can fire whoever they wish, even in states with anti-discrimination laws. Numerous politicians advocate mandatory creation classes

Unregulated church businesses (inc. gyms, treatment centres, etc) are exempt from the usual regulatory standards, leading to atrocious treatment of toddlers in religious daycare centres.

Chapter 2 deals with the founding fathers' actual intentions, private writings, and, crucially, the Treaty of Tripoli, which explicitly states that the US is not founded on Christianity. Sorry Turek, you lose. Most of the Fathers would never be elected to Congress, let alone the Presidency, today.

Chapter 3 is the longest, and in my estimation, the most crucial. It shows how laws that give special privileges and unearned exemptions to religious organisations hurts everybody, including Christians.

Emergency contraception is being denied to women because pharmacists can cite "religious objections" to dispensing contraceptives. The gag rule and hurdles to women's reproductive rights in foreign countries, under penalty of losing crucial aid, leads to back-alley abortions and death for women. This must be repealed. At present, the rule's enforcement depends solely on who sits in the Whitehouse. Abstinence-only "education" continues to be funded, despite their proven failure, leading to higher rates of STDs/unwanted pregnancies/abortions. If pro-lifers truly wanted to reduce abortion rates (and help teens make mature decisions concerning sex) they would ditch this nonsense. But they don't. Opposition to ESCR, even when embryos would be discarded otherwise, further reveals their hypocrisy and inverted sense of priorities. Death with Dignity legislation (well overdue) in Oregon and Washington is based on compassion and individual choice. The sooner a federal law is passed permitting this final right, the better. Faith harming/murder is explored in greater detail, as are religious nurseries and day care centres. James Dobson & Daniel Pearl's abusive parenting policies are derived directly from the bible, showing how useless the "good" book is for raising children.

A repressive, Victorian-era (some would say Puritan) approach to sex is not healthy. Fortunately, it did not lead to Bill Clinton's defeat in 1996.

And that's just the first half of the book. The second begins with fifty of the most vile, hateful and extreme "faithful" fundamentalists in Congress, who wield a disproportionate amount of power over all other Americans. Anti-gay hatred, tinfoil-esque conspiracies and whack-job tea party succor are just the appetizer. This book is a much-needed wake-up call to America in the 21st century, and we all owe Faircloth and debt of gratitude for writing this book.

Let me first get this out of the way, I am a committed Catholic. I also firmly beleive what the church teaches and do my best to practice that. I also can not imagine living in a country where there is no seperation between religious and civil law, such as Iran. I also beleive that seperation of church and state is a fundemendal principle that should stand firm. What Faircloth brought to light are disturbing trends in America that anyone watching should notice. What I object to is that he gives scant acknowlagement of the good the Church, Catholic and Protestent, has done while highlighting the scandal that has plaged it recently (and I do wish to point out that it is something we Catholics should be shamed by and pray that it never happens again). Having said that I do agree this is something that has to be countered before we find ourselves living under Christianed Sharia style law.

This is a clear and compelling argument for why we can't shrug off today's Republican Party and the religious zealots who control it. Our basic values of separation of Church and State are under attack.

If we don't resist these American Taliban we will find ourselves living in a "Christian" nation under the rules imposed by a minority of our countrymen. We are becoming a more secular society and our country should reflect that. The Founding Fathers never advocated laws based on "Christian" values or Jewish, Muslim, Atheistic values. Freedom of religion was fundamental and we should not allow ourselves to be bullied by one small branch of any religion.

I will defend to the death the right of Evangelicals to worship anyway they want but in the larger society they must follow the rules of a civilized, pluralistic society and accept that not everyone shares their ideas or wants to live by their rules.

If you want evidence of religious fanaticism, well you have found it. There is nothing likeable to be found here. Insightful yes. There are reports , to saythe least, that are extremely heart-wrenching and disgusting at the same time.Religion has held us back for well over a thousand years with its inhuman treatmentin the name of God. It is all about power and indoctrination. Read and beware.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Just how effective indoctrinated blind faith can become at its extremes.

Which character – as performed by Sean Faircloth and Richard Dawkins – was your favorite?

I happen to agree with the politics of this book, but if you didn't, you wouldn't find this book very edifying. Short on facts. Long on opinion. This is an author narrated book, and though he does a better job than I would, it is definitely NOT professionally narrated.

I would highly recommend this book to someone else. Faircloth uses history and the current climate in the United States to promulgate the idea that a nation should not condone or reward partiality to religious institutions nor should it support or assist these entities. He explains why in an impassioned plea for secular Americans to become more aware of the problems associated with this overlap of government and religion, and to become more involved in trying to change existing norms and laws that give the religious right undeserved benefits at the expense of others, sometimes children, who suffer because of the religious right's status in our politics and culture. It is at times a poignant look at the suffering and damage caused by medical neglect by parents who believe in faith healing as opposed to science-based medicine, and at times a stirring summons to the reader to invlove themselves personally in the prevention of these kinds of abhorent atrocities, by taking an active role in achieving the vision of a secular America. It is for liberals and conservatives, and especially for any purveyor of United States history who believes in the consititutional rights of all Americans.

I am a Hitchens loving, Dawkins adoring atheist. Even so, I found this uncomfortable reading. Yes the religious have a lot of get out jail of free cards. Soem of them rather revolting. I found the book giving them too much respect through attention. The way to quiet a wailing child is to ignore them. Make them irrelvant.

Let's move on.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

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